General elections were held in Fiji on 29 August 1953.Fiji Election Results: Few Changes in New Legco Pacific Islands Monthly, September 1953, p16
Electoral system The Legislative Council consisted of 32 members, including 16 'official' members who were civil servants, fifteen 'unofficial' members (five Europeans, five Fijians and five Indo-Fijians), and the Governor sitting as President of the Council.
For Europeans and Indo-Fijians, three of the five representatives were elected from single-member constituencies, with the other two appointed by the Governor. All five Fijian members were appointed from a list of ten candidates submitted by the Great Council of Chiefs.1940 Legislative Council Election Fiji Elections Archive
Voting for Europeans remained restricted to men aged 21 or over who had been born to European parents (or a European father and was able to read, speak and write English), who were British subjects and had been continuously resident in Fiji for 12 months, and who either owned at least £20 of freehold or leasehold property or had an annual income of at least £120. For Indo-Fijians, eligibility was also restricted to men aged 21 or over. They had to be a British subject or from British India, have lived continuously in the Fiji for at least two years, be able to read or write in English, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu or Urdu, and for the previous six months, have either owned property with an annual value of five years, had a net annual cash income of at least £75, or held a Government or municipal licence worth at least £5 annually.
Campaign Leaders of the Muslim Indo-Fijian community urged a boycott of the elections, calling for separate representation and for Urdu to be taught instead of Hindi.Tropicalities Pacific Islands Monthly, September 1953, p75
Results ConstituencyCandidateVotes%NotesEuropean membersEasternHarold Brockett Gibson22749.7Re-electedFred Archibald21046.0William Edmund Willoughby-Tottenham204.4Northern and WesternMaurice ScottUnopposedRe-electedSouthernJohn Falvey48759.8ElectedJames Burton Turner23829.2 Charles Phillips8910.9Indo-Fijian membersEasternJames Madhavan88655.7Re-electedOdin Ramrakha70644.3Northern and WesternAyodhya Prasad2,04347.5ElectedA. D. Patel1,91944.6Tulsi Ram Sharma2806.5UnseatedBabubhai Patel541.3Hari Shankar50.1SouthernVishnu Deo2,36564.5Re-electedHari Charan1,28835.1Hari Charan Akheel120.3Source: Pacific Islands Monthly
Nominated members TypeMemberUnofficial membersEuropeansStanley CowledWilliam Granger JohnsonFijiansEdward CakobauKamisese MaraIndo-FijiansK. S. ReddyAbdul SamadOfficial membersAccountant GeneralW.E. DonovanCommissioner of PoliceE.K. LawsComptroller of CustomsA.R. SmithDirector of AgricultureC. HarveyDirector of EducationG. ArthurDirector of LabourC.S. ReayDirector of LandsR.V. ColeDirector of Medical ServicesJ.M. CruikshankDirector of Public WorksJ.P. BruenSecretary for Fijian AffairsLala SukunaAppointedGeorge CakobauC.R. NottBrahmanand RaghvanandEx officioAttorney GeneralBrian Andre DoyleColonial SecretaryH.W. DavidsonFinancial SecretaryE.R. BevingtonSource: Fiji Elections, Pacific Islands Monthly
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